Hennepin Healthcare

Renee Reedy, PhD, CRA, RDMS, RVT, is a Radiology Manager at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Throughout her career, she has led imaging technology implementations, workflow redesign initiatives and multidisciplinary projects focused on improving access, operational performance and patient care. She is passionate about helping healthcare organizations successfully navigate change through collaboration, stakeholder engagement and thoughtful leadership.

The Work Begins Long before Installation

Every healthcare leader remembers the excitement of a new scanner arriving.

What people often do not see is the amount of work required to get there.

Long before installation day, teams are evaluating vendors, visiting customer sites, reviewing image quality, building business cases, coordinating facilities upgrades, planning IT integrations and gathering feedback from physicians, technologists and operational leaders. Hundreds of decisions are made before the equipment ever enters the building.

Then the scanner arrives. The first images look great. The room is finished. The project team finally takes a breath. In reality, though, the project is only halfway complete.

Over the years, I have participated in imaging projects ranging from routine equipment replacements to the implementation of entirely new imaging services. Some exceeded expectations. Others encountered challenges that had very little to do with the technology itself.

What I have learned is surprisingly simple:

Successful imaging projects are rarely won or lost because of the technology alone. They succeed when people are engaged, prepared and supported throughout the journey.

One of the most common mistakes organizations make is focusing almost entirely on the equipment while overlooking the people who will use it every day. A scanner may perform beautifully during a sales demonstration, but if it does not fit the realities of the clinical environment, the expected benefits may never fully materialize.

“Successful imaging projects are rarely won or lost because of the technology alone. They succeed when people are engaged, prepared and supported throughout the journey.”

This is why stakeholder engagement matters from the very beginning.

Before major technology decisions are made, it is important to gather input from everyone affected by the project. Radiologists, technologists, nurses, facilities personnel, IT teams, biomedical engineering and operational leaders all bring unique perspectives that help identify challenges before they become problems.

Each group sees the project through a different lens.

I have never seen a project fail because too many stakeholders were engaged too early. I have; however, seen projects struggle because key voices were brought in too late.

When the Purchase Order Is Only the Beginning

Once the purchasing decision is made, attention quickly shifts to implementation.

It is easy to believe the difficult decisions are behind you once the purchase order is signed. In reality, that is often when a different set of challenges emerges.

What appears to be a straightforward equipment replacement often involves construction, infrastructure upgrades, system integration, workflow changes and coordination across multiple departments. A timeline that seemed simple on paper can quickly become far more complicated when these dependencies emerge.

The most successful projects I have seen begin with detailed planning sessions that involve every impacted department. These conversations establish realistic timelines, clarify responsibilities, identify risks early and create alignment before installation begins.

The goal is not simply to install equipment. The goal is to prepare the organization for success.

Using New Technology to Rethink the Workflow

Another overlooked opportunity is workflow redesign.

Organizations sometimes assume that new technology can simply be dropped into existing processes. In reality, new technology often exposes workflow challenges that may have existed long before the equipment arrived.

Scheduling templates, patient preparation processes, room utilization, staffing models, communication pathways and throughput expectations may all benefit from review. Organizations that intentionally redesign workflows frequently realize far greater value from their investment than those that simply replace one scanner with another.

Turning Installation into Adoption

Training and adoption are just as important.

No matter how advanced the technology may be, its value depends on the confidence and proficiency of the people using it. I have seen projects struggle not because of equipment performance, but because staff did not feel fully supported during the transition. Ongoing education, leadership visibility, responsiveness to frontline concerns and opportunities for feedback all play a significant role in successful adoption.

Measuring Success After the Scanner Goes Live

Perhaps the most important lesson is that project success should not be measured on installation day. The true measure of success occurs months later.

Are patients receiving timely access to care? Are workflows more efficient? Are clinicians satisfied with image quality? Have operational goals been achieved? Is the organization realizing the value it expected from the investment?

These are the questions that matter.

As imaging technology continues to evolve, healthcare leaders will face increasing pressure to make strategic capital decisions. New technology will always matter. Innovation will always matter.

But at the end of the day, patients do not experience a scanner.

They experience access to care. They experience efficiency. They experience communication, quality and outcomes.

That is why the most successful imaging projects are not remembered because a new scanner was installed.

They are remembered because care improved.

The scanner may be the centerpiece of the investment, but it is the people, processes and partnerships surrounding that technology that ultimately determine whether the project succeeds.